On Sunday 8 November 2026, rent, power and petrol cost an expat roughly US$800 to US$1,250 a month in our Lekki Phase 1 and Ikoyi examples, before food, school and health cover. It matters for US citizens, remote workers, diaspora families and travellers weighing a move or a long stay.
The naira is firmer than at the end of 2025, so each naira price now converts to more dollars, and data for Port Harcourt, the oil hub in Rivers State, is too thin for a budget. Our Lagos cost of living detail goes deeper on the largest city.
File photo. Victoria Island and the lagoon in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. Photo: Ayorinde Ogundele, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.•Rent is paid yearly. Rent is commonly paid a year ahead, so the cash needed on day one is far larger than the monthly figure.
•Band A is the electricity tariff tier for homes on feeders (district power lines) with at least 20 hours of supply a day.
•Official versus parallel market. The naira trades at an official rate and on a street market; every figure here uses the official rate.
•Generators. Power cuts are common enough that many homes keep a petrol or diesel generator, or a battery inverter, as backup.
How the Exchange Rate Changed Costs
All dollar figures here use about N1,347 per dollar, the official market level in the first week of November, where N is the symbol for the naira and m means million. The naira traded at about N1,535 per dollar at the end of 2024 and about N1,429 at the end of 2025, based on year-end official market rates reported at the time.
The official market traded at about N1,347 in the first week of November. One dollar now buys about 12% fewer naira than at the end of 2024 and about 6% fewer than at the end of 2025.
For someone paid in dollars, a stronger naira makes every local bill more expensive in US$. A rent of N10m (about US$7,400) would have cost about US$6,500 at the end-2024 rate.
Anyone paid in naira gains buying power on imported goods, while dollar earners lose some of their edge. We used the official market rate throughout and did not check the parallel market rate, which can differ.
Rent in Lagos
Rent in Nigeria is commonly paid per year in advance, which is the biggest cash hurdle for newcomers. A 2026 market report by the real-estate firm Lagos Realty, covered on 9 August 2026, gave average annual rents for a two-bedroom flat in several Lagos districts.
Ikoyi, a wealthy district on Lagos Island, came to N17.25m (about US$12,800) a year, or about N1.44m (about US$1,070) a month. Other Lagos districts in the same survey were cheaper, as the list below shows.
Lagos two-bedroom flat, average annual rent
•Victoria Island: N15m (about US$11,100)
•Lekki Phase 1: N10m (about US$7,400)
The report gives no method for its averages, and other listing guides show lower or wider ranges for Lekki. Treat every figure as indicative.
We found no confirmed rent for one-bedroom or three-bedroom homes in Lagos, so we give no number. The surveys behind these averages are not confirmed by the landlords or agents themselves.
Rent in Abuja and Port Harcourt
In Abuja, one property-market site, whose page carries a 30 December date and is probably from 2025, listed annual rents for three-bedroom apartments, and none of these figures is independently confirmed. Maitama, a district of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, averaged N22m (about US$16,300), within a range of N15m to N40m (about US$11,100 to US$29,700).
Abuja three-bedroom apartment, annual rent (reported)
Wuse II, Jabi and Gwarinpa are also districts of Abuja, and the listing site did not state how it gathered its averages. Our Abuja city explainer describes the districts in more detail.
Port Harcourt data is thin and weak. A property listings site showed an average of about N2.5m (about US$1,860) a year for two-bedroom flats in August 2026, with premium listings near N7m (about US$5,200).
Electricity and the Generator Question
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the national power regulator, last reported a Band A tariff of N209.50 (about US$0.16) per kilowatt hour, applied from 1 July 2024. We could not confirm the current rate on the regulator’s own site.
Band A covers feeders that supply at least 20 hours a day. At the last reported price, 500 kilowatt hours in a month would cost N104,750 (about US$78).
Supply was uneven in early 2026. In June 2026 NERC issued Directive 2026/002, ordering compensation for Band A customers on feeders that supplied under 18 hours a day in February and March.
Many households run a generator or an inverter as backup. We found no verified generator running cost, so we give no number.
Petrol, Diesel and Cooking Gas
On 4 November 2026, petrol at NNPC stations cost N1,355 (about US$1.01) a litre in Lagos and N1,325 (about US$0.98) in Abuja. Abuja prices were N1,370 to N1,405 (about US$1.02 to US$1.04) before.
We found no confirmed pump price for Port Harcourt. Prices differ between filling stations, so these NNPC figures are a guide rather than a rule.
The Dangote oil refinery near Lagos, Africa’s largest, raised its wholesale price from N1,265 (about US$0.94) to N1,350 (about US$1.00) in mid-September. Our report on Dangote’s petrol pricing follows later moves.
We found no reliable current diesel price and no confirmed cooking gas price. Generator owners and households that cook with gas should check local prices before budgeting.
Inflation and Food Prices
Headline inflation, the yearly rise in consumer prices, was 14.63% in September 2026, down from 15.39% in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s official statistics office, said on 15 October. Food inflation was 19.59% year on year, although food prices fell 1.55% from August to September.
Food inflation in Lagos was reported at 34.4% year on year, the highest among the states. The national minimum wage is N70,000 (about US$52) a month, and the federal government has told labour the next review is due in June 2027.
The NBS price watch for March 2026 put a 50 kg bag of local rice at N112,000 (about US$83), up 20.5% from N92,946 (about US$69) in February. A crate of 30 eggs cost roughly N6,100 (about US$4.50).
A market check around the same time found local rice nearer N60,000 (about US$45), so official and street prices differ. We found no confirmed prices for a grocery basket, chicken or restaurant meals.
Getting Around and Staying Safe
The Lagos State government raised fares on its bus rapid transit (BRT) and Bus Reform Initiative buses by 13% from 2 March 2026, after an 18% rise in February 2025. We could not confirm prices for ride-hailing, Abuja taxis or mobile data bundles.
The US State Department’s advisory for Nigeria is reported at Level 3, which means reconsider travel. In April 2026 it widened its Do Not Travel list (Level 4, the highest warning) to include Plateau, Jigawa, Kwara, Niger and Taraba states, and reports put the total at 23, so check the current advisory.
Security can add cost, from guards to estate service charges. We found no confirmed prices for either, so no figure appears in the budgets below.
Schools and Health Cover
International school fees can be a large extra line for families. Fees vary widely by school and by grade.
Charterhouse Lagos, a private British-curriculum school, lists N23m to N35m (about US$17,100 to US$26,000) a year for 2026/27, from Primary 1 to its final year, SS3. American International School Lagos, a private school with a US curriculum, lists tuition of about US$17,600 to US$32,200 a year for 2025/26 on its own fee page, plus other fees, and the school says tuition can be paid in dollars or naira.
We found no confirmed fees for international schools in Abuja or Port Harcourt. We also found no verified premium for expat health insurance, so we give no number.
Sample Monthly Budgets
The lines below are our own arithmetic, an illustration and not a survey. They assume 500 kilowatt hours of power at the last reported tariff and 100 litres of petrol a month, and they leave out food, school, health and security, with the Lagos petrol price for Lagos lines and the Abuja price for Abuja lines.
Illustrative monthly lines, rent plus power plus petrol
•Lagos, Lekki Phase 1 two-bedroom: N1,073,583 (about US$797)
•Lagos, Ikoyi two-bedroom: N1,677,750 (about US$1,245)
•Abuja, Wuse II three-bedroom: N1,487,250 (about US$1,104)
•Abuja, Gwarinpa three-bedroom: N820,583 (about US$609)
Schools add the next big block. Charterhouse works out at about N1.92m to N2.92m (about US$1,420 to US$2,170) a month, and American International School Lagos at about US$1,470 to US$2,680.
Port Harcourt has no budget line because verified data is missing. Its thin rent listings and its unknown pump price leave too many blanks to build one honestly.
Single Person, Couple or Family
A single person can lean on the lower lines, such as Gwarinpa in Abuja at about US$609 a month or Lekki Phase 1 in Lagos at about US$797, before food and health cover. Rent is paid yearly, so the cash needed upfront is far larger than the monthly figure suggests.
A couple shares one home, so rent and power stay nearly the same, while food and fuel costs rise with each extra person. We have no confirmed grocery prices to size that.
A family faces school fees first, and every option here is a large extra line. Charterhouse or the American school would add US$1,420 to US$2,680 a month per child to any of these lines.
What It Means for You
For US citizens on dollar contracts, the stronger naira means each naira bill converts to more dollars than at the end of 2024. Remote workers paid in US$ should budget a full year of rent upfront and a backup for power.
Diaspora families sending money home now get about 12% fewer naira per dollar than at the end of 2024, and our Nigeria history explainer gives the wider background. Travellers heading to Lagos for Detty December, the city’s festive season of events, can read our guide to Lagos events and costs for event costs, and should read the current State Department advisory before booking.
What We Could Not Confirm
Several costs that matter to a household have no reliable figure yet. We list them here so that no gap is filled with a guess.
•Rents for one-bedroom and three-bedroom homes in Lagos.
•Generator running costs, a current diesel pump price and cooking gas prices.
•A pump price for petrol in Port Harcourt, and international school fees in Abuja and Port Harcourt.
•Grocery baskets, chicken and restaurant meals.
•Ride-hailing, Abuja taxi and data bundle prices.
•Guard costs and estate service charges.
•Premiums for expat health insurance, including plans from the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), the federal health insurance agency, and hospital consultation fees.
•The parallel market exchange rate, and any provider confirmation of the rent, school and insurance figures.
The next NBS inflation release, for October, will show whether price growth keeps slowing. A steadier naira and a lower inflation rate would make budgets easier to plan, but the cost of power backup and school fees will stay the main variables.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to live in Nigeria as an expat?
Rent, power and petrol alone run about US$797 to US$1,245 a month in our Lagos examples, and reported Abuja examples come to about US$609 to US$1,104. Food, school, health cover and security come on top.
Is Lagos or Abuja cheaper for an expat?
Our data cannot rank the two cities, because the Lagos lines use two-bedroom flats and the Abuja lines three-bedroom ones. Gwarinpa in Abuja comes to about US$609 a month, Lekki Phase 1 in Lagos to about US$797 and Ikoyi in Lagos to about US$1,245.